These are Jews, a culture synonymous with swindlers. The phrase ‘Jew’ and ‘cheater’ have been so interchangeable historically that they have entered the English language as a verb. ‘He jewed me!’ Well the Jews have jewed us too. And [Jews] come here [to Canada] to jew us again, to rob us blind, as they have done in Europe for centuries.

These words are shocking and offensive, aren’t they?

And yet, last week, this contemptible screed was uttered and aired by a national broadcaster in Canada, with just one difference from the language cited above: Instead of “Jews,” the broadcast was describing “gypsies” — an obsolete term for the European people known as Roma.

Here is the full, actual quote, as it was aired on September 5:

“These are gypsies, a culture synonymous with swindlers. The phrase gypsy and cheater have been so interchangeable historically that the word has entered the English language as a verb: he gypped me. Well the gypsies have gypped us. Too many have come here as false refugees. And they come here to gyp us again and rob us blind as they have done in Europe for centuries … They’re gypsies. And one of the central characteristics of that culture is that their chief economy is theft and begging.”

The TV host who said these words was Ezra Levant, and the broadcaster was the Sun News Network.

Just as our own Jewish community would never stand for such a hateful attack, so the Roma are not remaining silent. Gina Csanyi-Robah, the executive director of Toronto’s Roma Community Centre, has laid complaints with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) and the Alberta Law Society. She is also considering further legal action as is permitted under Canadian law.

The Jewish community understands where such hate can lead. The special bond Jews and Roma share was nowhere more evident than during the Holocaust, which Jews call the Shoah. Also targeted for extermination, the Roma had their own word for their attempted genocide: the Porajmos or “Devouring.” There is even a Roma proverb that speaks of Jews and Roma trudging to the gas chambers together, ande jekh than hamisajlo amaro vushar ande’l bova: “Our ashes are mingled in the ovens.”

If the Sun News Network had aired an attack on Jews, the whole country would be outraged. Yet we have seen little support for the Roma from other faith and ethno-cultural groups, politicians and community leaders in the wake of Levant’s on-air rant. Even the media has remained mysteriously silent.

The Roma are a small community in Canada, numbering roughly 80,000. Some families have been living here since the early 20th century. These families, which still speak the native Romani language and share a culture dating back to the eastern and central Europe of the 16th century, are now into fifth and sixth generations. Many more Roma came to Canada during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956; and numerous others have arrived in the last two decades to escape vicious and violent attacks from neo-Nazi groups in Hungary and the Czech Republic.

There will always be those who claim the Roma engage in lawlessness and crime. And in Europe, statistics do demonstrate a significant increase in theft by those living in Roma encampments. These numbers have been used by French authorities to justify large scale deportations of Roma.

Yet to ascribe such negative characteristics to an entire people is grossly unfair. Jewish history is replete with Jews described as thieves, beggars and cheats. Many Jews trying to come to North America from Europe in the early 20th century were denied entry as a result. Poverty and discrimination may beget lawlessness. But targeting an entire identifiable group for the actions of some is not the answer.

In the late 1990s, a group of Roma refugees arrived in Canada and were temporarily housed in a downtown motel. In short order, members of the neo-Nazi Heritage Front demonstrated in front of the hotel with hateful pickets and the straight-arm Nazi salute, terrorizing the new arrivals. Police acted, and anti-hate charges were laid. It took almost a decade, but the demonstrators eventually were convicted.

To the credit of the Sun News Network, a full apology and retraction was run late last week. As for Mr. Levant himself: no apology, no retraction — only silence.

The time has come for all of us to reject hate and bigotry — against any group.

National Post

Note: First paragraph quoted with permission from John Baglow, blogging as Dr.Dawg.

Bernie M. Farber is the former CEO of Canadian Jewish Congress. Nate Leipciger is a Holocaust survivor and educator. Avrum Rosensweig is president of Ve’ahavta: The Canadian Jewish Humanitarian and Relief Committee.

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